13/05/2006
NEWS STORY
BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfeld qualified tenth in Barcelona. His team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve, will start from the back of the grid with a fresh engine for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Nick Heidfeld: I am happy to be in the top ten as the lap times are quite close. I think it would have been difficult to beat the other cars in front of us, and even though I lost some time with Ralf in front, honestly I don't think it would have changed anything regarding my position. The set up was fine on one lap, and I hope we can see the same tomorrow over a race distance. The balance of the car changed, and it was quite different for all three outings.
Jacques Villeneuve: The first run went very easily and the balance was very good, but then the wind picked up and the car's balance changed. We still concentrated for the set-up on what we need for the race with high fuel and all that. We were not at the optimum for qualifying, but I was still expecting better than that.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Once again it was very tight. After the first part of qualifying there was less than a second between first and 14th places. In the second part the first 11 drivers were within one second of each other. For us we had different strategies. It was clear Jacques would not be able to start in the top ten because of the engine change. For Nick we concentrated on getting him into the top ten, which is exactly what he achieved. On his first lap he got stuck in traffic which cost him quite a lot of time. What his starting position will be worth compared to the opposition we will see tomorrow at the first pit stop. Technically the cars ran problem free. As Jacques is starting from the last row anyway, we will fit another fresh engine to give him the best possible chances for here and Monaco.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): Getting one car into the third qualifying session is positive as this gives us a good platform to start the race from. How good this tenth place will end up being we cannot say, as we don't know everyone's different strategies. Jacques was very good in first qualifying. Not doing so well in the second session hasn't played a very big role in his weekend, as he has to go back ten places anyway because we have changed his engine.
To check out our Barcelona qualifying gallery, click here